# Unroot - Uninstaller for Mac

Unroot is a native macOS uninstaller that scans every place an app hides its leftovers, explains each find before it acts, and moves them to the Trash instead of deleting - so one click can put every file back.

- URL: https://swiftfox.studio/apps/unroot
- Price: Pay what you want (suggested $4.99)
- Category: utility (App Uninstaller)
- Platform: macOS 14.0 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel
- Version: 1.0.6
- Publisher: Swiftfox Studio (https://swiftfox.studio)

## Uninstall apps completely.

Dragging an app to the Trash leaves its preferences, caches, launch items, receipts and permission entries behind. Unroot finds all of it, explains every find, and moves what you approve into one dated folder in the Trash - no file is ever deleted, and one click puts them all back. Every removal it has ever made stays on the list, so undoing one from last month is the same single click as undoing the one from a minute ago.

### How it works

1. Right-click an app in the Finder, drop it onto Unroot, or pick it from the grid - it scans every place leftovers hide, with reasons.
2. Review the list: each row says why it matched, risky rows start unticked, your files stay untouched.
3. Remove: launch jobs stop, permissions reset, then every file moves into one dated folder in the Trash.
4. Changed your mind? Undo puts everything back - even after a reinstall nothing gets overwritten.

## Features

- Finds prefs, caches, launch items and receipts
- Nothing is deleted - one click puts it all back
- Every removal stays undoable, weeks later
- Clears leftover entries in Privacy & Security
- Remove login items nothing owns any more
- Uninstall from the Finder's right-click menu
- Sweeps orphans of apps you deleted long ago
- Never touches documents, photos or iCloud Drive

## When to use it

### Uninstalled apps still haunt Privacy & Security

Dragging an app to the Trash leaves its permission grants behind forever - macOS has no button for them. Unroot resets them while the app is still on disk, the only moment that works.

### The Trash only takes the bundle

Preferences, caches, containers, launch agents and receipts all stay behind - gigabytes over the years. Unroot knows every place leftovers hide and explains each find instead of guessing.

### Cleaners that delete are scary

One wrong match in a cleaner that deletes means data gone. Unroot never deletes: every removal is a move into one dated Trash folder with a manifest, and Undo replays it exactly - even a crash mid-removal is recovered on the next launch.

### Years of apps you already deleted

The orphan sweep finds leftovers whose owner is long gone and shows them grouped by app. Only regenerable caches and logs arrive pre-ticked; everything else waits for your say.

### Login items with nothing behind them

An app is long gone but its launch agent still runs at every login, and System Settings lists a background item with no way to remove it. Unroot shows everything that starts, names the owner of each, and offers only the ones whose program is missing.

## Frequently asked questions

### How is this different from AppCleaner or Pearcleaner?

Unroot is built around not destroying things: it moves instead of deleting, keeps a manifest, offers full Undo with collision handling, resets leftover permission entries at the right moment, and stops launch jobs before their files move. If you only want the bundle gone, the Trash already does that.

### Where does the right-click item appear?

Right-click an app and look for Unroot. In ~/Applications it is a top-level item that names the app - "Uninstall Spectacle with Unroot". Everywhere else, including /Applications, macOS routes it through the Services submenu instead, where it reads just "Uninstall with Unroot". You switch the extension on once in System Settings -> Extensions -> Finder. Nothing is removed from a click - the usual review screen opens, with reasons and checkboxes.

### Can it delete the wrong files?

Every move is checked against a hard path policy: system paths, your documents, photos, desktop and iCloud Drive can never be endpoints, other installed apps' files always win over name matches, and uncertain matches start unticked. And because nothing is deleted, even a wrong approval is one Undo away.

### Can I undo a removal I made last month?

Yes, as long as its folder is still in your Trash. Unroot lists every removal it has ever made, with the space each one is holding, and it works out whether one can still be undone by reading the disk each time rather than trusting a flag written back then.

### Why does it sometimes ask for my administrator password?

Some leftovers live outside your home folder - launch daemons and privileged helpers in /Library. Removing those needs one authorization, everything it runs is listed in the report, and purely user-scope removals never ask at all.

### How much does Unroot cost?

It is pay what you want with a suggested price of $4.99, and zero is genuinely included. Whatever you pay, it is a lifetime license with updates.